Darkness Within
by xxxHellStrifexxx
Summary: Still haunted by the past... Zero go on with his life without Yuuki but what is in store for him when he realized that Kuran Rido is still alive? And that vampire he met at the guesthouse, why did he felt a connection between him and the vampire?
1. Chapter 1

Darkness Within

Disclaimer : I do not own this anime.

This is a one-shot story. I'm not a fan of Zero but the main character is Zero. I wonder why...

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_Fangs... blood... they're everywhere... I'm one of them too but why? My mother... and father... they were killed by those fangs... I feel tainted by the vampire blood in me. I didn't choose to be one. I'd die than be one. Until now, I still remember the pain I felt the day that damn pureblood sank her fangs on my neck. Regardless how much I tried to forget, I kept failing... This feeling of hatred and fear will never be gone..._

As Zero walked out, he took a last glance at the academy. It was time to leave. He had business to handle. He can no longer stay in the academy with his condition. A Level E vampire with three pureblood's blood in him. Shizuka... Kaname... and Yuuki. Things will never be the same ever again. He lost Yuuki forever. He was deeply in love with her before but she had to be one of the pureblood he hated. He swore to kill her the next time they met. Zero kept walking and he reached one abandoned house by the end of the road. He was surprised by the silence. It was early in the afternoon and there wasn't anyone at all. Suddenly, he sensed blood from inside the house. Zero shot the window and crashed through it. After getting inside, he realized the door wasn't locked. He wondered if being a Level E made him stupid too.

Zero felt his heart beating faster and faster. He saw blood stains all over the wall. There was no doubt that there was a vampire in here. He followed the smell of blood until he reached the door to a room on the second floor. He heard a woman screaming from right inside that room. Without hesitating, he slammed the door and went in. He could not believe his eyes. How could that person be alive? He was supposed to be dead. Or at least be dead for a century or two... That person turned to look at Zero. He grinned at Zero's presence. His red eyes staring straight into Zero's lilac eyes...

"Ah. Zero... How nice to see you again...".

"Kuran Rido. Why are you still alive? I shot you myself"

"Naive little boy. I'm a pureblood. I'm immortal"

"I know you can't die but you should have needed quite some time before you resurrect again"

"*smirks* That, you'll have to figure it out yourself. I'll leave it as a mystery. As for now, it's time for me to go. Better luck finding me again. You'll find it pretty hard", said Rido before he vanished right in front of Zero.

Zero stood in the room like a statue as he was still processing what he had just seen or heard. Kuran Rido... still alive... that was not possible. If Rido was alive, why didn't he try to get Yuuki? Instead, he hid in this old abandoned house feeding on some innocent girls. It really was a mystery. Zero left the house and decided to go searching for Rido to get some answers. He was confused enough already. He needed to know what was going on.

Zero stopped by a guesthouse on his way to another district. He didn't know why he felt that Rido would be in another district... but his instincts told him so. Zero spent the night in the guesthouse. The name of the guesthouse was weird in a way. It was called "Dark Night". He felt uneasy about the place but there was no other guesthouse available. The decoration in the guesthouse was normal surprisingly but it gave out a dark aura. Zero got a room on the highest floor. There was only one room on that floor which made it weirder. He expected a not very nice slumber that night. However, Zero was too exhausted to stay awake. Within moments, his eyelids closed and he had a dream.

_Zero stepped into a room which seemed quite familiar. He saw a chess set on the table by the window. Where was he? Why did he felt like he had been in this place before? He looked around and soon he saw a familiar face approaching. It was Kuran Kaname. Zero remembered now. He was in Kaname's room in the Moon Dormitory. Why was he here? He wondered. Then, he saw Rido appearing out of nowhere. He feared he would be noticed by Kaname and Rido so Zero hid behind the door. He listened to Rido and Kaname's conversation. _

"_Kaname, why won't you just be nice and hand Yuuki over to me?"_

"_Rido. No matter what, I won't let Yuuki go again. You should just stay dead"_

"_Oh dear, how rude of you to say that. And you should know by now that I can't die"_

"_I can't kill you but someday, someone will"_

"_I hope you don't mean Zero. He's still blurred by my presence in that old house. Isn't that right, Zero?", said Rido while looking straight at Zero. _

_Zero was shocked when he realized Rido was looking straight at him. He knocked onto the vase on the floor and woke up._

Zero was still panting after waking up. Could it be that Rido knew he was there? It's not like he meant to peek into two pureblood's conversation. He sat back and relaxed. Putting all the pieces together and hoping he'll understand something. Was that a really a dream or was he really at Kaname's room at that time? Now the only clue he had left was if that dream was real, Rido would be in the academy. Why didn't he think of that? The most dangerous place is always the safest place. What he could not decipher from the dream was Kaname's presence. Didn't Kaname took Yuuki away? Why would he be back in the academy? If he's back, then is Yuuki back too?

Zero wasted no time and packed his belongings. He had to reach the academy before Rido leave or do something to the students there. Right before he stepped out of the guesthouse, the owner of the guesthouse shot him a deadly glance. Zero didn't notice this when he entered. The owner had red eyes and... fangs. But the owner was no ordinary vampire, he looked at Zero as if giving out a message. He smirked at Zero and uttered something. Zero managed to make out the word uttered by the vampire.

Darkness is within you. Watch out for the inner you, Level E vampire hunter...

Zero did not understand the meaning of the vampire but he feared something bad was going to happen. It's not everyday you get a warning from a vampire. And so, Zero left the guesthouse and headed back to the academy. On his way back, Zero wondered why he did not kill the vampire in the guesthouse. He felt some sort of weird connection with that vampire. What was the connection between him and the vampire? And what exactly was going to happen? It's all still a mystery.

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I'm going to leave this hanging because some story's better left a mystery. But if I get good reviews for this, I might consider making it an on-going story.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer : I do not own this anime.

I was going to make it one-shot but as I expect, I felt like updating. Still don't understand why I made Zero the main character though... Maybe I was hoping on making him not so lame... Sorry Zero fans, I have my reasons to not like him.

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CHAPTER 2

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"_Zero! Ichiru! Come back into the house. It's getting dark already. It's DANGEROUS", said their mother._

"_Zero, why does mother never allows us out in the dark?", asked Ichiru._

"_I don't know. But I've always got the feeling someone's watching us"_

"_I'm scared. Do you think mother and father are hiding something from us?"_

"_Don't worry Ichiru.. I'm sure it's nothing. Parents are like that"_

_Just when Zero was about to get back into his house, he saw a figure under the tree. He didn't know who it was but he was sure that figure was looking directly at him. That figure... that look... it was the same as the one he saw on that vampire he saw at the guesthouse. _

Zero's flashback ended when he saw a lot of people crowding the gates of the academy. That just assured him that something had really happen in the academy. Maybe his dreams were real. Kuran Rido was back. But Rido had mentioned before that it would be hard to find him again. So why would Rido just reappeared at the academy after only a short while from meeting Zero? Zero could not make any sense out of that.

The gate was too crowded for him to pass through. So, he decided using a more barbaric way of doing it. He climbed on to the tall tree beside the academy and try jumping over the fences. He succeeded but his shirt got caught in between the fences. In another way, that meant he was stuck hanging like someone just did a wedgie on him. He hoped no one saw him in that state. That would be too humiliating for his pride and dignity. Zero pulled out a penknife from his pocket on the right and made a small cut on his shirt. He got loose but he grumbled a little because that was his best shirt. Or rather... Yuuki gave it to him. That's considered a treasure compared to all the other gifts she ever gave him, like special Yuuki coupons which weren't much use.

The situation around the academy was too quiet. It wasn't too weird because the day class students were supposed to be asleep but, why weren't there any signs of movement whatsoever? Then, he saw Kaien Cross talking to someone...

"Kaien, what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know. I think it's time the war begins"

"I thought you wanted the vampires and humans to be able to live together?"

"I failed. And that guy, he would be starting the war soon. Everything he had done, it was all for this moment to come. I felt guilty for lying to Zero and Yuuki but it couldn't be helped"

"Now that I'm back, you do know that I'm going to bring Zero back, don't you?"

"I know but I doubt he'll go with you"

"He has too. Sooner or later, he'll be forced to come. He is in fact, the future vampire ruler"

"Enough with the vampire ruler thing... it's just a prophecy and it's getting lame"

Zero heard the whole conversation between Kaien Cross and that someone. Vampire ruler? Him? Impossible. He's just a tainted Level E vampire. He took that thought out of his mind. Now that he looked closer, that someone looked like that vampire he saw at the guesthouse. Why was that vampire so familiar to him? Yet he remembered nothing about it.

Zero thought about it for a while but he was going nowhere. He went checking Kaname's room instead. It was the same as his dream but as he waited, no one appeared. Neither Kaname nor Rido appeared in the room. Was it really a dream or was he starting to hallucinate? He felt like everything was a delusion. Yuuki leaving must had left a huge impact on him. He thought that being back in the academy might enable him to look at Yuuki once more. All this hope and desperation caused him to be going out of his mind.

[AT THE MANSION]

"Nii-chan... where are you going again?", asked Yuuki.

"I'll be back soon, Yuuki. Aidou will look after you while I'm gone. Don't leave the mansion, please", said Kaname, and he placed a kiss on Yuuki's forehead.

Yuuki wasn't exactly the type of person that could stay put in the mansion. After Kaname's absence, she packed some stuff and planned on going somewhere. She felt sorry for not listening to her beloved Kaname nii-chan but she needed to find out everything. Zero wasn't the only one confused about everything that had happened.

"Yuuki-sama! Why are you packing? Where are you going? If Kaname-sama found out, I'll be killed!", said Aidou hysterically.

"How many times did I tell you to just call me Yuuki? I need to leave the mansion. Find out what's going on because nii-chan was being too secretive. I know he's protecting me but I have the rights to know everything. Don't try to stop me, Aidou senpai"

"Argh! What should I do? Wait! I'll go with you!"

"Suit yourself. As long as I can leave this place"

Yuuki left the mansion without waiting for Aidou. He ended up running his whole way to chase up to Yuuki. Somehow, her sixth sense told her to go back to the academy. She wanted to visit her father anyway, but partly was because she wanted to see Zero again. She knew Zero would really kill her if he saw her again but she didn't gave a damn about that. Deep inside her heart, Zero never changed. She did. He's the same as before. The same Zero that had a hobby of insulting her and slacking at his duties as a guardian. Yuuki smiled a little thinking back at the times she and Zero were guardians. It was fun despite Zero's insults. She would be secretly looking at Kaname and blushed when Kaname noticed her. Now, she's a pureblood and she got to be with Kaname but she lost her best friend and... Zero. All this memories were part of her. Even if those memories were just her past but she'll never forget those times. Painful but sweet memories.

She stood in front of the academy and wondered how long had it been since she had left. She hesitated a little about going in. After all, she left them and thought she wouldn't be back anymore. The whole thing about her being a pureblood and her being related to Kaname were just too messy. She took quite some time to make things clear. Then, she heard someone calling out for her. It was her best friend, Yori.

"Yuuki!"

"Yori-chan!"

"I would have hugged you but just to be sure, are you really Yuuki? You've changed a lot"

"Of course I'm Yuuki. I didn't change much besides being slightly taller "i hope", having short hair and him following me around like my minion", said Yuuki while giving Aidou a look.

"What did I do? I had to follow you. Kaname-sama would kill me if anything happens to you", explained Aidou.

"Anyways, this sounds so cliche but I'll ask anyway. Erm... how are you?", asked Yuuki.

"Ever since you left, everything's back to normal. No one seemed to remember a thing that happened that day besides me"

"Are you sure nothing happened at all after I've left? Recently, I've been having this feeling that something was going to happen..."

"Well, nothing happened yet. Are you going to see Principal Cross now?"

"Oh yea. I was going to. Goodbye Yori! I'll see you again soon and I'm leaving Aidou here with you!"

"Wait! What?", shouted Aidou.

Yuuki left before Aidou could chase up to her. He didn't bother chasing much anyway. He knew she would be safe here. So he stayed where Yori was.

"So I guess it's just you and me", said Aidou.

"No. It's just you. I'm getting back to my dorm. Goodnight and goodbye, senpai"

"Eh! Wait! What am I supposed to do here all by myself?"

And so, Yori left and Aidou was the only at the gate. Meanwhile, Yuuki went to find for her father but before that, she saw... Zero. Zero saw her too. They both exchange glances and was surprised by each other's presence. That mixture of feelings inside their heart... Was it love? Was it hatred? Pity? Longing? All those feelings mixed together like pea soup.

All those times, she felt like seeing Zero again but now that she did... it wasn't exactly like she thought it would be. Zero looked as if he was going to kill her but at the same time... she felt the pain in his eyes. He must have hated her a lot for being a vampire. If only she could rewrite history, she wouldn't pick to hurt him that way. He trusted her and she turned out to be the creature he hated most. She only hoped there is a way for her to heal those wounds she left on him. He didn't deserved all those pain. It was too much for him to handle...

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Wait a minute... I actually wrote a pretty long chapter. That's rare... for me. Anyways, feel free to review. Starting next week, I won't be updating so soon because I'll be having my exams. But don't worry, I'll still update. I'm not gonna leave my story incomplete.


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